The Third Department Official Chapter 10: A Chaotic Night

  At the same time, Gao Qiang was also walking out of the gate of Cai Jing's mansion, and he sneezed several times for no reason. He thought to himself, "I wonder who is thinking of me? If it were a beauty, that would be fine, but what if it's that old fox Cai Jing? That would be a heavy burden!"

  As he walked down the steps, Gao Qiu turned his head and glanced at the vermilion gate, and a strange thought suddenly arose in his mind: I wonder how historians of later generations will record this meeting between himself and Cai Jing? If it is still listed as a biography of treacherous ministers, it would probably be written as "Two villains met on that day, their stench matched, they were in cahoots, and they colluded to overthrow the imperial court." If the fortunes of the Song Dynasty were reversed and its rule continued, then it might be recorded as "At the time, Cai Jing had just been dismissed from his position as prime minister. Due to a private agreement, he met with Gao Qiu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, in front of the palace. They spoke at length, and their conversation was extraordinary. As a result, Cai Jing was reappointed as prime minister, thanks to Gao Qiu's efforts." Alternatively, if he himself rose to prominence one day and surpassed Cai Jing in status, then perhaps there would be a separate biography written about him, with only a mention of "Cai Jing was reappointed as prime minister due to Gao Qiu's efforts" in his own biography.

  "Haha......" Gao Qiang was lost in thought, and couldn't help but laugh out loud, startling Yan Qing and Xu Guanzhong beside him. They asked in unison: "Sir, what's making you laugh?"

  He smiled and didn't answer, just waved his hand and went back to the mansion first. It turned out that he suddenly remembered the aerial fantasy novel he had read before, where the protagonist would say every time he made a move: "The torrent of history accelerates abruptly here, and the gears of fate turn quietly."

  "But I wonder where I'll be taken to? Hehe, it's really something to look forward to..."

  That night, Gao Qiang had a long conversation with his father, Gao Fu, in the study. The two men talked through the night, making plans under the eastern window, unaware of the dawn breaking outside.

  The next morning, Gao Qiang's eyes were bloodshot, but he rushed to find a group of party members before practicing and instructed them one by one. They all went their separate ways. However, Gao Qiang himself was late due to fatigue and was severely tortured by two masters, especially Lu Zhishen. He heard that several Mingjiao disciples had been invited to Zhao Ting's mansion and had no chance to discuss Buddhist scriptures with Deng Yuanwu, so he was furious and increased the amount of practice. In addition, he made Gao Qiang hold a Zen stick for half an hour, saying it was to practice his waist strength.

  On this day, the supervising censor Shen Qian presented a memorial to the throne, stating: “...Now that the ten-point proposal is sufficient to alleviate the current situation, but I do not know if there will be any adverse consequences. The law has its origins in evil, and the people who are idle have no reason to double their income. What is there to fear? Even if they are executed daily, the trend cannot be stopped. Not only are the common people in the alleys and lanes engaged in counterfeiting, but many come from the families of rich people and scholars. Before the year is out, all the small coins in Jiangnan will be gone. The lightness of money makes goods expensive, and when goods are expensive, the poor and lowly people become more destitute. This is where thieves and bandits originate. I humbly request that you quickly order its abolition.”

  Shen Zongli was known for his straightforwardness and bravery, never relying on powerful officials. Therefore, this memorial came as a complete surprise, catching Zhao Tingzhi, Liu Wei, and others off guard, leaving them no choice but to follow suit. Left Chancellor Zhan Buli continued: "The circulation of large denomination currency is originally intended to benefit the people. I fear that travelers with accumulated goods worth tens of thousands or more may find it inconvenient. However, Cai Jing was in a hurry to serve the emperor and failed to understand the imperial mind's compassion. Now, we should consider changing it to five as the standard."

  Zhao Ji sighed: "Cai Jing's laws are too harsh and urgent, no wonder heaven has sent disasters to warn me. Now that the ten-cash coin is causing trouble for the people, I order it to be changed to five-cash coin. The money monitor will stop casting ten-cash coins and cast small coins instead. All private coins in various places must be handed over to the government within a certain period of time, and small coins will be exchanged for them. Those who have done so in the past will not be blamed. If someone deliberately seeks profit, they will be punished according to the law against private casting. What do you all think?"

  This has all been said by the officials, what else can I say? Zhao Ting saw that things were not going well and threw a glance at Liu Kui, who racked his brains but could only add two sentences: "I beg to request that when exchanging private money in various places, officials will add two points of interest to it."

  Zhao Ji was unhappy when he heard that more money had to be spent, but he also knew that empty words would not work well among the people. He ordered the three departments and the transportation commissioner to raise funds for this expenditure, so as to avoid these high-ranking officials eyeing the inner treasury. He then ordered the wait-and-see official to draft an imperial edict and dismissed the court session.

  In the evening, Gao Hua returned home and told Gao Qiang about what had happened. When he mentioned Zhao Tingzhi and Liu Kui staring at each other during the retreat ceremony, he couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh loudly, exclaiming "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

  He had been practicing all night and was forced to practice for another morning, without even eating lunch, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. Just after waking up, his father came to talk to him, and his mind was still a bit dizzy, so he could only respond mechanically. His mind vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know where the problem lay.

  Father and son were chatting, when Xu Guanzhong reported from outside the door, saying that a message had come from Shi Xiu's side, Zhao Tingzhi's mansion was shouting to catch thieves, three men and one woman escaped, looking at their appearance, they were indeed the few Fang Sheng's subordinates who were invited into the Zhao Mansion yesterday. The matter has alarmed Kaifeng Prefecture, Shi Xiu did not dare to intervene, asking how to respond.

  Gao Jian suddenly realized: it turned out that he was just worried about this matter! When Zhao Ting and Liu Kui were discussing matters in the hall, they suffered a secret loss. The matter of the ten taels of silver was thus cleverly dodged by Cai Jing's underlings, who avoided the reality and grasped at the superficial. Gao Jian was furious in his heart, and couldn't help but want to vent his anger on these few commoners.

  Thinking of that beautiful girl about to fall into Zhao Ting's clutches, the official's heart was filled with rage: Little Zhao had already monopolized the great talent Li Qingzhao, which was infuriating enough, and now Old Zhao wanted to eat tender grass too? The official I came to this 900 years ago, without bringing some high-tech and first-class gold by my side, ended up having to take a step back and flatter people, which was already enough to make one angry. Now that I finally had a chance to be a hero and save the beauty, how could I let it slip away?!

  At this point, Lu Zhishen's eyes lit up and he thought of a plan. He immediately bid farewell to his father and called Xu Guanzhong to go with him to invite Lu Zhishen out. He said that the powerful official Zhao Ting was relying on his power to forcibly take a civilian girl, and his disciple had received the news and was filled with righteous indignation, intending to go and rescue the person. Lu Zhishen originally had a chivalrous heart, and seeing his disciple wash his heart and turn over a new leaf, he couldn't help but feel great joy in his heart. It seemed that under his daily influence, this prodigal son could also change his evil ways and become good. Truly, the Buddha's law is vast and boundless, and those who are capable can do anything. Good, good!

  "Now that this has happened, how can I stand by and do nothing? Let's go take a look with the good disciples!" Lu Zhishen rolled up his monk's robe, grasped his staff and led the way. Gao Qiu and Yang Zhi followed closely behind him. Just as they were leaving the gate, they ran into Yang Zhi who had come to invite Gao Qiu for a drink. Upon hearing about the situation, he naturally couldn't miss out on it, so he grabbed a wooden staff from the gatehouse and followed Gao Qiu out of the door.

  As they sped along, Shi Xiu's men brought back the news in a flurry: those few people were quick and agile, and whenever they encountered officials from the Kaifeng Prefecture or city guards, they would be dispatched in no more than three to five moves. The servants who had chased after them from Zhao Ting's residence couldn't even touch their sleeves. However, it was clear that these people didn't know the way, and the number of people blocking their path was increasing, obviously making them anxious. Their attacks were becoming more ruthless, and they had already injured several officials. Now, they were heading towards the back garden of the Dasanguo Temple.

  With a strong and resolute mind, the order was given to start committing some acts of disorder in the city under the hands of many people. Kicking widow's doors, overturning vendors' carts, pulling young women's braids, but there is one thing that must be done in front of many officials and soldiers, gathering crowds while doing it, and scattering like birds and beasts after finishing.

  As soon as the order was sent out, the city of Bianjing immediately fell into chaos. Shi Xiu indeed lived up to his reputation as a hero of the streets, and in just a few short days, he had gathered over a hundred rough men under his command. They all rioted together, creating a scene that was quite shocking. At this time, it was approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the streets were bustling with lanterns and lights, marking the beginning of the nightlife in the Eastern Capital. Suddenly, there was chaos everywhere - people running wildly, dogs barking, and the sounds of shouting, scolding, and screaming filled the air.

  The yamen runners and the city patrolmen were naturally indignant at this turn of events. It was a rare opportunity for them to make an appearance and gain some recognition, but it had been ruined by these rascals right in front of their eyes! How could they tolerate this?! They immediately launched a search and arrest operation, shaking their iron chains loudly, but unfortunately, the thieves were too cunning. Every time they thought they had caught up with them, the thieves would scatter and disappear. After a busy night, they only managed to catch a few small fry. However, when they brought them back to the Kaifeng Prefecture, before noon, the Magistrate had already released all of them. The yamen runners were puzzled, but the squad leaders each received some copper coins and kept their mouths shut.

  This is the end, let's not talk about it for now. On this side, the strong and powerful saw the military officers and soldiers scattered all over, the situation was chaotic for a while, and the family members who chased out of the prime minister's mansion had lost their way, like headless flies flying around everywhere, feeling extremely anxious in their hearts. They received intelligence from Shi Xiu that Zhang San sent, saying that those people climbed over the wall into the backyard of the Temple of the Great Minister and disappeared without a trace. In a hurry, they reported to Lu Zhishen: "Master, these people broke into the Buddhist sacred land, what should we do?"

  This is just pretending to be stupid, talking about the Buddhist door and pure land with other monks is fine, but this person in front of him is a drunk monk who has fought over the mountain gate and blown up the rolling hall, where would he put these things in his eyes? Only see Lu Zhishen's bald head nodding: "I was just going to meet that big monk, isn't it just right now? Disciples follow me together!" He strode towards the old vegetable garden, while Gao Qiang followed behind him, smiling secretly.

  Several people arrived at the outer wall of the backyard of Dashengguo Temple, Shi Xiu led Li Si to continue, saying that he had scattered a dozen or so rascals around to guard, and there was no movement in the temple. It's likely that those few people fled while fighting all the way, and they were somewhat tired when they arrived here. Since there is no one here at night, it's better to wait quietly until dawn and then find a way out of the city.

  Jiao Tinggui nodded in agreement and praised Shi Xiu again, but Lu Zhishen on the side had already become impatient. He took off his monk's robe, wrapped a stone inside, and threw it over the wall with a "whoosh". Then he climbed over the wall himself. Soon, the sound of clashing metal could be heard from the other side, and they had already engaged in combat.

  He highly praised Lu Zhishen's meticulousness, knowing to explore the path before jumping over the wall. On the other hand, he was also worried that these few people were all good fighters, and Lu Zhishen should not suffer any losses by entering alone. Shi Xiu was originally a bold and brave person, and at this moment, seeing the concern of the officials, it was his time to show off. He immediately hugged the knife and jumped onto the wall, but heard the sound of clothes fluttering beside him, Yang Zhi had already drawn his sword and jumped up.

  The two men exchanged a smile, raised their swords together and charged down. The garden was immediately filled with the sound of clashing steel, like a string of pearls. Suddenly, a voice rang out: "Halt!"

  That man had just spoken up, and on this side Gao Qiang also shouted: "Hold your hands!"

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